Ming Dynasty Detective 1546

Chapter 194 The Imperial Examination is Coming
Haiyue noticed that ever since she arranged for Li Yuying to meet her parents, Haihao and Zhu Lin had become particularly concerned about each other's families.

Not only parents, but even grandparents are starting to care.

But this is difficult to understand.

Before being killed by Mạc Đăng Dung, the last king of the Later Le Cong, Le Thuong, had no children. Even if he did have any, they would certainly have been eliminated at the time. Mạc Đăng Dung committed regicide and could not possibly have left any legitimate Le family bloodline.

Li Weining and Li Yuying were not direct descendants, but belonged to the closest members of the royal family, which is why they were chosen and called royal grandsons.

This prince did not recognize Prince Gong, who had already become a puppet of Mo Dengyong, but rather traced his lineage back to Emperor Xianzong, recognizing a relative from a distant generation.

To put it simply, things are quite chaotic in Annam. The country is in turmoil and fragmented. Even they themselves may not fully understand the clan system, let alone an outsider like Haiyue.

However, if one really wants to know, there is a way, since Mo Dengyong's son, Mo Guangqi, is also in the capital.

As the saying goes, the person who knows you best is not your friend but your enemy. For Mo Dengyong, who was beset by internal and external troubles, he must have studied the origins of Li Weining and Li Yuying, the brother and sister.

After learning of this situation, Haihao and Zhu Lin disappeared for two days. When they returned, they neither agreed nor disagreed, but only said that they would see how the war was going in Annam.

The family celebrated the New Year in a lively atmosphere, but after the Lantern Festival, the capital city suddenly shifted to a different atmosphere.

The imperial examination is here!

More than 3,000 candidates from the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty gathered in the capital!

The imperial examinations in the Song Dynasty consisted of three rounds, while those in the Ming and Qing Dynasties consisted of six rounds. However, there was no fundamental change in practice. The only difference was that there were more scholars in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, so the three preliminary examinations were necessary to filter out most of the candidates.

As a result, the social status of students who passed the imperial examinations (童生, 秀才, 举人) also rose accordingly.

Ultimately, it was those who passed the imperial examinations who reached the highest levels of power.

Passing the imperial examination with top honors is the true meaning of achieving success, bringing glory to one's ancestors, and winning the highest honors!
"yawn……"

Ever since.

On the seventh day of the second month of the eleventh year of the Jiajing reign, Yan Shifan once again got up with dark circles under his eyes.

But this time, not only him, but also Hai Rui and Lin Daqin were still sleepy. When Su Zhigao from another dormitory arrived, they looked at each other and smiled bitterly. It seemed that they had tossed and turned all night and hadn't slept well at all.

Haiyue, who slept soundly until dawn and was full of energy, didn't feel comfortable offering comfort. She couldn't very well say that the other candidates were all nervous, but she was calm and composed. So she simply led the group and said, "Let's go!"

The examination venue was still the Gongyuan (Imperial Examination Hall), but compared to the provincial examination, it was only 3:45 AM, yet the area outside was already packed with people. A string of torches guided the way, and the thin frost shimmered with tiny silver light under the torchlight.

Looking into the distance, not only the candidates who had arrived early and formed a long, winding queue outside the gate, but also the relatives who had accompanied them to the examination hall, their breath forming a hazy mist in the cold night.

Even so, Haiyue immediately saw Haihao, Zhulin, and Old Fan standing in the front row, waving at her. She wanted to go forward, but they pointed to the examination hall, indicating that she should go directly in, and looked at her with smiles.

On the other side, Yan Shifan, standing on tiptoe, also saw his mother, Ouyang. Yan Song, being a Grand Secretary, had to be mindful of his image and couldn't possibly come to the examination hall in person. But Ouyang's earnest instructions to her son yesterday weren't enough; she came to see him off this morning.

Yan Shifan tried to squeeze into the crowd, but found he couldn't. He could only wave to his mother and join the ranks of the candidates, entering the venue in single file.

"Dang! Dang! Dang!"

As the sound of gongs and drums rang out, the main gate of the examination hall slowly opened, and the gatekeepers lined up on both sides to call out names. The candidates whose names were called had to remove their hair hats and outer robes for a search.

The searches for the imperial examinations were far more rigorous than those for any previous examination.

Under the watchful eyes of Haiyue and her group, the candidates at the front of the line moved forward. Four servants in the search tent surrounded them at the same time, their rough fingers running over their hairlines, behind their ears, cuffs, and boot tops. They then ordered them to take off their coats and carefully searched the thick felt linings. Finally, they opened the examination baskets, took out each item, and examined it thoroughly. They even broke open any thick flatbreads to check for any smuggled items inside.

Yan Shifan shook his head repeatedly and said in a low voice, "Is it really necessary? They're all successful candidates in the imperial examinations, would they really cheat?"

As soon as he finished speaking, cries and shouts came from ahead, followed by words spoken in a thick local accent. Due to the excitement, it was difficult to understand what was being said, but soon two inspectors were seen dragging an old scholar with gray hair outside.

The candidates, including Yan Shifan, remained silent in fear.

Haiyue knew that although those who could participate in the metropolitan examination were all Juren (successful candidates in the provincial examination), and theoretically already had a fairly high social status, they would not do things like cheating. However, it was precisely their obsession with becoming Jinshi (successful candidates in the imperial examination) that drove many Juren to take the exam again and again. As they got older and their memory declined, they would actually choose to bring cheat sheets into the examination hall.

So the crowd gradually moved forward, and before it was the Imperial College's turn, seven or eight candidates who had smuggled themselves in were caught in front of them. The gatekeepers and searchers had truly done a great job.

Of course, this was quite a hassle. February in Beijing is still chilly, and taking off clothes at this time is practically unbearable. Sneezing was incessant, and some older people, exposed to the cold, immediately looked pale and began to tremble. By the time Haiyue and her group finally passed the search, the east was already turning a pale white. They then skillfully traversed the examination hall's passageway and arrived at their respective cells.

Leaving aside the other students, the first thing the members of the Yixin Society did upon entering their cells was to set up small heaters, check the fire prevention measures around them, and arrange pots and pans.

The imperial examination was held in three sessions, one session every three days, for a total of nine days.

The provincial examination was held in the autumn, in August, which was still a comfortable time of year. Now it was February, and there were many records of candidates freezing to death. Therefore, devices for keeping warm and protecting against the cold were of paramount importance.

Yixin specially commissioned a batch of heaters to be held in one's arms to keep hands and feet warm, specifically for this exam.

As for fire prevention, the weather is dry and fire is a serious matter. It's not just a saying; even today's examination rooms are all made of wood, which makes them very easy to catch fire.

To take a recent example, in the third year of the Zhengtong reign, a fire broke out during the provincial examination in Shuntian Prefecture, destroying the examination cells and papers. Fortunately, there were no casualties. However, later candidates were not so lucky. During the metropolitan examination in the fourth year of the Tianshun reign, a fire broke out in the examination hall, and more than ten candidates perished in their examination cells. "The number of those who were scorched and injured was countless." These injured and disabled candidates were also ruined, and even their careers were cut short.

The most tragic incident occurred during the imperial examination in the seventh year of the Tianshun reign. Soldiers inspecting the examination hall started a fire to keep warm, which caused a fire that killed more than ninety candidates and injured countless others. To show his condolences, the emperor posthumously granted the deceased candidates the title of Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations) and personally wrote eulogies for them. They were buried outside Chaoyang Gate, and the court erected a monument that read "Tomb of the Outstanding Talents of the World," while the common people called it "Tomb of the Candidates."

Even so, the imperial court had not learned enough lessons from these fires, let alone improved the fire-fighting facilities of the examination hall. It was not until the Wanli era, when Zhang Juzheng served as the Grand Secretary, that the wooden buildings of the examination hall were transformed into brick and wood structures, which improved the fire resistance and continued until the Qing Dynasty.

We don't have that kind of treatment now, so we have to do our own inspections, take precautions against fires, and even prepare enough water to extinguish fires promptly.

This perfectly complements the final meal and drink.

Here's a little-known fact: cooking was allowed in the imperial examination hall.

Each cell had "a stove and a basket of charcoal in front, for the scholars to cook tea, soup and meals," but not everyone had access to them.

Wealthy test takers can buy mooncakes, honey orange cakes, lotus seeds, dried longan, ginseng, pickled cucumbers, and cured duck in advance to eat slowly in the examination room. They may even have traditional Chinese medicine such as "asafoetida" to aid digestion.

Poor students who were taking the imperial examinations often had very little money. They would either bring enough dry food for a few days to eat or prepare some rice and vegetables to cook for themselves during breaks in the exams.

So later a local folk song went: "The scholar suffers, carrying his examination basket to the provincial capital. The examination hall is leaky, the rice is half-cooked, boiled with salt, he wags his tail and writes the eight-legged essay. He fails to write an essay, and his stomach is pounding with frustration."

The folk song is about the provincial examination; the metropolitan examination requires even more attention.

In the February weather of the capital, even the strongest person would not be able to endure eating dry rations for nine days. If one kept drinking cold water, the stomach and intestines would also suffer. Once vomiting and diarrhea occurred, even the best performance would be impossible.

Su Zhigao was very experienced in this regard. He was a veteran scholar who had failed the imperial examinations many times. At first, he thought it was because he lacked talent and learning, but later he realized that these details of life were more important. He then advised the first-time test takers on what foods were easy to carry, had a quick dissipation of smell, and were less likely to cause indigestion or diarrhea, emphasizing the importance of paying attention to these details.

In conclusion, the imperial examination was not only a test of talent and learning, but also a requirement of physical fitness, and even a matter of luck.

Haiyue did everything to the best of her ability. When the questions were handed out, they were still the same as the Four Books, five-character eight-line poems, five classic texts, and policy questions, which was no different from the provincial examination. When she picked up her pen, she was confident.

After these days of honing his skills, he only has two requirements for his articles.

First, do not use difficult words or unusual characters to attract attention and increase the difficulty for examiners in grading your papers;
Secondly, it is not necessary to make every word a gem; what is important is to be moderate and peaceful, to have substance, and to leave the reader feeling refreshed after reading it.
In this way, it will be successful.

The first game...

The second match...

Game three.

After finishing all the answers, there was still plenty of time left. Unfortunately, the actual exam was different from the preliminary exam, so it was impossible to hand in the paper early. Haiyue ate and drank her fill in her cell and did nothing. She thought about her marriage, the case, and the court. Finally, she started to wonder who was originally the top scorer in this year's imperial examination.

Can't remember.

In fact, most of the eight great talents of the Jiajing era came from the first two imperial examinations, namely the imperial examinations of the fifth and eighth years of the Jiajing reign. After these talents were gathered, the eleventh year of the Jiajing reign was considered a slow year for the imperial examinations, and very few of the Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) from that year became famous in later generations.

In this case.

Then we'll be impolite!
at the same time.

Inside another cell.

Yan Shifan stared at the article on the manuscript paper, racking his brains for ways to improve it, when suddenly he sneezed and his expression changed instantly: "Could I have caught a cold? Oh dear! If I fail the exam, it must be this that's causing the problem, affecting my performance!"

(End of this chapter)